Some people speak of breaking through barriers and others talk about building something of themselves. Both are true, but the word choice is telling.
In an interview with artist and activist, Molly Crabapple in the Smithsonian magazine (April 2016), she talked about the “jaggedness goading you on.” The success that she found in her life and career wasn’t easy to come by. There was a lot of rejection and barrier busting. She talked about finding cracks in the wall and the power of persistence. “But I think that sort of pain,” she said, “are the parts of you that are most interesting in a lot of ways. They’re the parts of you that give you motivation to keep creating art and keep fighting.” An analogy of destruction is reflective of a world view that says it is “me versus the universe.”
In contrast, others talk about building something, brick on brick. Using construction terms, they think of creating an edifice. Something beautiful and interesting and lasting. It is a different kind of pain. A pain focused on legacy. Building something comes from a world view that says that anything is possible. And that the world is ready to accept what you have to build.
How do you describe your own accomplishments? What does that say about your world view?